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Viridiana (Viridiana)

Luis Buñuel
Spain / 1961 / 90 mins. / Spanish with English subtitles

Luis Buñuel’s Palme d’Or-winning masterpiece of subversive cinema. Awarded the Cannes Palme d’Or, this was Buñuel’s sole interruption of his post- Civil War exile. The film was banned upon release due to its anticlerical images, notably Buñuel's famous parodical shot of Leonardo Da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper. Viridiana centres on an idealistic, devout young nun who, before taking her final vows, visits her wealthy uncle Don Jaime, who has ’selflessly’ provided for her over the years... Buñuel critiques the double standards of the Church and power- elite, and fills the most mundane gestures with erotic intent.The picture Buñuel made of his country's plight is replete with symbolism of what Spain had become, a warning of what it might be in a world gone mad. Viridiana may be a compelling shocker, but it is also a beautifully made picture with wonderful visuals, and the shock it gives may be virtually necessary to its meaning. Buñuel himself expressed it well when he said, "The sense of film is this: that we do not live in the best of all possible worlds."Unreleased in Spain until 1976, and only recognised as a Spanish film in 1984, Viridiana remains a masterpiece of subversive cinema.

Luis Buñuel was born in Calanda in 1900. At the University he met Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia Lorca. Went to Paris to study film and became assistant Jean Epstein.Worked with Salvador Dali on Un Chien andalou, which became a surrealist classic and on L'Age d'Or.  Buñuel further pursued his interests making an anti-clericalism documentary called Land Without Bread. During the Spanish Civil War he went to United States where he directed documentaries at the MoMA. He began to direct films again after a creative hiatus of almost 15 years in Mexico and made Los olvidados, Él, or Nazarín. He had an international acclaim and began to fully develop his unique mix of surrealist humor and social melancholy. His first opportunity to work and live in Spain came when he made Viridiana in 1961. Though his script was initially approved, the film was banned upon release due to its anticlerical images. Nevertheless the film achieved international recognition. Controversy and problems with censorship continued to appear throughout his career, as in his French film, Belle de Jour.  Despite the complications Buñuel continued to be one of the most creative and productive of all film directors.